"Top three benefits of a monthly massage" - by Shelly MacGregor

Shelly MacGregor: You want to be more flexible, reduce stress hormones that age us faster, relax more, feel better in your body, increase circulation and actively reduce pain and muscle tension?

Of course you do! And you can do all of these while laying on a massage table once a month!

Top three benefits of a monthly massage:

1.Treatment for headaches and migraines: “Compared to control participants, massage participants exhibited greater improvements in migraine frequency and sleep quality during the intervention weeks and the 3 follow-up weeks. Trends for beneficial effects of massage therapy on perceived stress and coping efficacy were observed. During sessions, massage induced decreases in state anxiety, heart rate, and cortisol.” They also had fewer occurrences of migraine headaches as opposed to the respondents who did not have a full body massage. The effects of the said full body massage lasted up to three weeks. Experts highly recommend people who regularly experience migraine headaches to go for a full body massage at least once a month to minimize their migraine episodes.Read more here

2.Reduce Back Pain: Annals of Internal Medicine published another study showing the benefits of massage in people suffering from back pain. “Ten sessions of massage therapy led to more rapid improvement in low back pain than usual medical care. There was no apparent difference between relaxation massage and the more specialized technique of structural massage.” Read more here.

3.A healthy dose of anticipation! ”While living in the present is a very beneficial thing – sometimes the present can feel a bit annoying, frustrating, tedious, or intolerable. When we find ourselves in those less-than-ideal present moments, having something to look forward to in the future can give us the motivation and persistence to keep moving forward even during those difficult times. The key idea is that by creating new rewards in your life – or by activelylooking for things to look forward to – you can build more discipline and motivation in any area of your life where you are lacking." Read more here.

Shelly MacGregor is the Owner of Apex Massage Therapy Ltd. and the Founder of Spagoes and Spa 901 in Fernie BC